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The Defund Hate Coalition issued the following statement in response to President Trump declaring a national emergency to funnel billions more tax dollars to build more wall on the southern U.S. border:

“Today, Trump declared a fraudulent national emergency for his border wall funding, confirming his month-long threats fueled by anti-immigrant rhetoric and fear-mongering. This is a unilateral move by Trump to bypass the democratic process and redirect billions of taxpayer dollars to appease his base over a dangerous wall that neither Congress nor the American public supports.

“There is no legal justification for Trump’s action. Congress must not buy into Trump’s manufactured border crisis and should vehemently reject this undemocratic power grab. Our senators and representatives must hold the president accountable for repeatedly lying to Americans to justify his attacks on immigrants. They must use their constitutional authority as a co-equal branch of our government to prevent the president from undermining our democracy and forcing the American people to pay for the expansion of the border wall or any of the cruel militarization and enforcement systems which already put immigrants, refugees, and border communities in grave danger.

“We call on Congress to immediately revoke Trump's fraudulent national emergency; uphold a more hopeful and humane vision for the United States by investing in our nation’s resources in education, infrastructure, and services that create safe and healthy communities; and make significant cuts in funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection in fiscal year 2020.”

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The #DefundHate campaign, composed of organizations representing directly impacted communities, faith leaders, and civil rights and immigrant rights advocates, is committed to divestment from agencies that tear apart our families and terrorize our communities. For too long, our representatives have said they care about our communities while simultaneously funding aggressive immigration enforcement and deadly immigration jails. They must be held accountable to keep their promises and stand with the immigrant community. We call on our members of Congress to say no and vote against wasting taxpayer dollars on an abusive and deadly immigration enforcement system. Instead, we want our tax dollars used to strengthen our families and communities by investing in education, housing, nutrition and health care programs that provide opportunity and increase well-being.